R1150RT fuel mileage

[krello]

My R1150RT's mileage rarely exceeds 40 and is often 35mpg. Is this the norm? Would aftermarket exhaust (Staintune) help? Thanks!

[DonHamblin]

Krello,

My R1150RT's mileage rarely exceeds 40 and is often 35mpg. Is this the norm? Would aftermarket exhaust help? Thanks!

Since I picked up a "new to me" R1150RT (with an aftermarket exhaust) last week I should be able to share a little insight by the time I get to Lima. I'll be glad to pass on my experience.

Don
'03 R1150RT (with Remus + big header)

[BradfordBenn]

I get in the mid 40's I have found that it is very dependent on tire pressure and throttle application.

[Mr. Frank]

I get from mid to high forties. In sixth gear running 70 on the slab I get close to 50 mpg.

[Cliffy777]

My R1150RT's mileage rarely exceeds 40 and is often 35mpg. Is this the norm? Would aftermarket exhaust help? Thanks!

need more info to know if you are part of the norm.
where do you ride....slab, two lanes, twisities, commute, or what.
more important how do you ride...do you shift carefully after sneaking up on 3500 rpm or do you whack the throttle up to red line before barking your way into the next gear.
how many miles on your bike. tell us more.

[BobFV1]

40 is the worst I ever get, even when thrashing the bike on the street with no regard for mileage. On the highway I generally cruise at 70 to 80 MPH in sixth gear and generally get 49 MPG. I burn premium gas and keep my Z-6's inflated at high pressure (40/42 f/r)

[Bfish]

have an '04 rt and just turned 9,000 miles. my riding consists of one weeknight run to the boonies and 200-300mi on sundays. usually avoid stop and go (heat right now in florida is mitigated by speed) with speeds from 50-80mph. been averaging close to 45mpg consistently. the mileage has gotten better over the last few months, but was always 42-43. if i can maintain 70+ mph i kick it to 6th gear which i'm sure helps. my gas light has never come on. had 229 mi on last tank and only needed 5.1 gallons. :type

[Garth]

My R1150RT's mileage rarely exceeds 40 and is often 35mpg. Is this the norm? Would aftermarket exhaust help? Thanks!

Krello, My '02 1150RT averages around 38 mpg using premium fuel in mixed driving conditions. A tank on the interstates might yield a couple mpg more. Tires are inflated to factory spec and I keep the engine between 3500 to 4000 rpm. Never had a surging issue and I suspect it runs slightly rich. I'm happy with it. Don't know about the AM exhaust.

[Rich]

I get from mid to high forties. In sixth gear running 70 on the slab I get close to 50 mpg.

Ditto! Same year bike.

[RT_guy]

40 mpg is the best I've experienced with my '04 1150 on a trip. I usually get around 37 commuting through the week. I normally keep the engine running between 4000 and 5000 rpm which means I rarely see 6th gear and a lot of 3rd-4th gear in town. I've thought my mileage is consistently lower than others and sometimes wonder if it's the top box that's causing it. The height of the windscreen doesn't seem to affect the mileage much.

[Bfish]

[QUOTE=RT_guy] I normally keep the engine running between 4000 and 5000 rpm which means I rarely see 6th gear and a lot of 3rd-4th gear in town.

rtguy,
i really just started using 6th gear a bit more and only if i can keep the speed up. 4000rpm in 6th is around 80mph. like you i'm usually in 4th and 5th gear with rpms never below 4000, but even then my mileage has stayed in the mid 40's. :clap

[rtapple]

My last fill up 252 miles 5.1 gallons-------In my 04 RT I'm getting near 50----mixed riding----------apple

[Bfish]

impressive. what's your mileage and how's the oil consumption?

[screamin eagle]

I have never gotten less than 42 mpg and mostly I get 46/47. I don't ride in the city much so my numbers are generally country two lane with an occassional super slab.

[rtapple]

My 04 RT has about 6600 miles----I just topped it up with about 1/2 quart at little over 1000 miles-------I tend to get in 6th as soon as possible for less vibration-------------cruise at about 3500-4000 RPM-------contiue to get around 50 MPG------------

[Mr. Frank]

I'm at 37K miles now with minimal oil consumption. On the straight and level it's about 4 oz per 1000 miles. It is more in hilly country with lots of engine braking. Oil consumption really dropped by 15K miles. After consumption has settled down, using synthetic reduces consumption because it evaporates less. Mileage is mid to high forties, even 50 during extended 6th gear usage at 70.

[krello]

need more info to know if you are part of the norm.
where do you ride....slab, two lanes, twisities, commute, or what.
more important how do you ride...do you shift carefully after sneaking up on 3500 rpm or do you whack the throttle up to red line before barking your way into the next gear.
how many miles on your bike. tell us more.

I ride 2 lane highways and freeway - usually 75 - 80 mph. I don't normally accelarate aggressively, check tires often (38 front & 42 rear on Michelin Pilot roads). I use 91 octane premium and record mileage with my Garmin GPS since the beemer's speedo reads 3-5 mph faster than it should. Thanks!

[Mr. Frank]

I ride 2 lane highways and freeway - usually 75 - 80 mph. I don't normally accelarate aggressively, check tires often (38 front & 42 rear on Michelin Pilot roads). I use 91 octane premium and record mileage with my Garmin GPS since the beemer's speedo reads 3-5 mph faster than it should. Thanks!

Usually the odometer is more accurate than the speedo. K bikes tend to be very good, but the R bikes are a bit optimistic. What kind of error do you see on mileage?

[bullit7801]

Hey folks,

I agree here that the Odo is usually closer to correct than the Speedo. Living in the Great Plains gives me an opportunity to easily check against Interstate Mile Markers. My old 1991 K100RS was really close. 100 miles on the mile markers read 100.8 on the Odo. My R1100RS is not as good. 100 miles on the mile markers read 102.7 on the Odo. On the R1100RS, an indicated by speedo 70 shows as 63.4 mph on the GPS (Garmin III+).
Speedo in the range of 10% high and the Odo in the range of 3% high. Nothing like real data. ;)

tb

[Hacksaw]

My R1150RT's mileage rarely exceeds 40 and is often 35mpg. Is this the norm? Would aftermarket exhaust (Staintune) help? Thanks!

04 1150RTL with 16,000 mi. Worst 43, best 52. Most miles on a tank of gas is 270 mi.

[Kenny2]

Mileage?

I get 43 mpg. If run it hard, 5500 rpm in the twisties, drops to 38ish.

2002 R1150RT

[DonHamblin]

Quick update before I do some pure Interstate miles.

My R1150RT's mileage rarely exceeds 40 and is often 35mpg. Is this the norm? Would aftermarket exhaust (Staintune) help? Thanks!


My new to me '03 R1150RT (around 17K miles showing), Remus, big header (no more cat), K&N, Mobil-1, and Techlusion TFI, is getting 40 to 44 mpg around town. Real near what most folks get in stock trim.

OK, my "town" is really only a "town" (Madison is a suburb of Huntsville, AL), and not a full-blown city. But that still means 10-20% freeway (where I can get into 6th gear), 10% stop and go (yes, I do have to stop and show the guard my ID card at the gate on my way to work), a few traffic signals, and the rest 3d and 4th gear (3500 - 4000 rpm).

Again, I'll post something in about a week. It should prove interesting at "BMW" style slab speeds (I expect about the same). ;)

Don Hamblin

[wyrenut]

Hiya all, new member here...

I've wondered why the mileage on my '04 RT seemed to be much lower than many of the reports on various forums until chatting with riders in our area who have ridden outside our glorious State of California. Seems many riders report mileage increases as soon as they hit the border of other states (Nevada for example). Just glancing over the posts in this forum seems to uphold this theory - most CA posters are getting less mpg (or do we just ride like demons most of the time???) ;)

Mechanic at the local dealership echoes this conclusion that the blends we're forced to use hereabouts do not perform very well... My bike is almost to the 12K mark and the best I've ever measured was 45 - really babying the speeds, keeping the revs lower than I normally ride, windscreen fully down, etc. As it is finally starting to break in (oil consumption drastically reduced), the mileage is settling at around 40. It was fairly discouraging when I was reporting to admirers that my bike was getting "only" 35 mpg!!!

WyreNut

[DonHamblin]

WyreNut, et.al.,

Maybe this will shed some more light (or cast a larger shadow) on the question. (Again, 03 R1150RT, Remus system with header, Techlusion TFI, K&N, 17 - 18 K miles.)

Just got back from Lima, so I've got a bit more data.

My last "tank" on the way to Lima showed almost 47 mpg! Speeds were being kept to around 70 mph (GPS). That's a whole lot easier to do when enforcement is strong...

Next tank was mostly local "gasahol" (that 10% mix you find in the upper middle west), with a lot of riding around the rally site. It returned around 41 mpg. Filled up in southern KY and that tank took me most of the way home (have to admit that I might have exceeded the posted speed limit from time to time) and it jumped back up to 45 mpg.

My uneducated logic tells me that the bigger aftermarket "pipe" should return LOWER mpg, but recent experence is proving that it makes little difference.

Maybe someone else has better data.

Don Hamblin :dunno

[MPATROVSKY]

04 RT I shift into 6th at 55 or so and commute daily to work. Average is 50mpg and on a long trip (4000 miles in 2 weeks) running 75-85 got 54 mpg. I use less than a pint of oil in 3000 miles and change it then. Using the BMW 20-50 and BMW filters. Wish my headlight lasted as long as my fuel. Going on my third headlight in less than a year. They keep burning up the contacts. Dealer is puzzled.

[wyrenut]

04 RT I shift into 6th at 55 or so and commute daily to work. Average is 50mpg and on a long trip (4000 miles in 2 weeks) running 75-85 got 54 mpg.

OK, so what part of the country or world do you buy your gas? I'm betting it isn't CA....

WyreNut